Loom.



A. B. STAFFORD.

LOOM.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 31' 1908.

Patented Feb. 9

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ml; runs. pa. um. mu -cam. o. a

A. n. STAFFORD.

Arrmommn mm) M4131, 1906.

- Patented Feb. 9, 1909.

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.' To-dll whom it may concern: I

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- Loon.

Patented Feb. 19, 1909.

A lic tion.in i May 31, 1906. Serial No. 319,535.

B, "t known that'I, ALFRED E. STAFFORD,

a resident-ofqI-l'opedale, in the county of Worcester 'a'nd State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new-and useful Improve-. ments m Looms, of'which the following is a specificationh vThe presentinvention consists in certain improvements upon the invention ofgCharles Eatonchas'e; upon which plication for Letters Patent of the United ..filed May 31, 1906 Serial No..319,552.-

In accordance. withthe Chase invention,

, an automatic replenishing loomhavii'ig a dechange end ofthe loom; In such case the tector which. detects-the approaching exhaustion of the runnin weft and thereupon init ates-the action 0 automatic weft re-- plenishing devicesis provided" with a center weft-fork carried by the lay and working among the warp threadswhich detects breakage ofweft and thereby stops the loom through v ping mechanism acting to stop theloo'm' efore the lay completesits forward beat following the detecting action intervening sto of the center fork; LThere is one contingency which ,mayjgivejrise to an im erfection in the cloth which is not rovide against by the mechanism of the C ia'seinvention; It may occur that the weft "thread has a break in it .I.i:h comes on the traverse of the shuttle to the replenishing end of the lay immediately following the detection of the approaching exhaustion of the running weft; and the thread may not run out until the shuttle has passed the center fork 'on'its way to the replenishing mechanism will act to insert fi'esh Weft into the loom and the weaving will then continue uninterruptedly, with the result that there is a partial'pickonly in one of the shed'formations, thus making a blemish in the, cloth. This contingency does not tweenthe selvage of thecloth and the change known,

happen often in practice and in many fabrics won (1 not-cause them to be classed as se oonds; but. inthe case .ofsome fabrics a blemish of this character even though happening at remote intervals is objectionable, The purpose of the present mprovements is to sto the: loom insuch a. case. To this end, the lbom having weft replenishing mechanism brought into action by a detector which detectsapproaching exhaustion of'weft and having a center-fork to stop the loom is also equipped with a side weft-fork located he states were loom. I In case, therefore, the weft runs out after theshuttle passes the center-fork on its way to the change end of the loom iminedi-.

nissacnu'snr rs, A'ss'IcNoR TO DRAP acomh'nY,

ately. following the initiation of the Weft replenishing operation, the loom will be sto ed "by the action of the side-fork, thus avoiding a possible blemish in the cloth.-

The present improvements are ,illustratedin the acco npanyingdrawings, in Which Flgure 1 1s a plan vlew of a portion of the loomat the detecting side, enough being shownto'enable the present improvement to be understood ;Fig 2, is a detail vertical section n the planeindicated by the line 22 in Fig. 1; Fig. 3,'-is a plan view of the loom at a the change side, only suflicient parts being shown to enable the present improvement to be understood; Fi 4, is a vertical section at the change end of the loom illustrating theshuttle feeler and the connection between the side-fork and the stop'rod; and Fig. 5, is a front view of the loom at the changeside showing the sidesfork slide and its connection with the sto rod.

, Except so far as t e present improvements 1 are concerned, the accompanying drawings follow the drawingsofthe aforesaid Chase "application, to which reference maybe made for a full ex lanation-of the detailed mechanism herei ustrated.

So far asthe partshere shown are 'idenv tical with those illustrated in the Chase application, they have the same reference charaoters; i

i A, is the breastbeam; 'B, is the lay; and C, is the shuttle. As shown in Fig. 1, the

nearly depleted shuttle cooperates witha detector comprising an external feeler D, which on performing its fimctional movement swings the controller E, on its horizontal ivot 15, thereby through intervening 'mec anism including a dagger 16, rocking the weft-replenishing starting'shaft F. This shaft extends to the change" side of the loom and is there equipped with an arm 21, (see Fig. 4) which acts to swing the shuttle feeler G, toward the then approaching lay. If the shuttle is improperly oxed itis encountered by the shuttle feeler and a chan e of weft 15 not effected. If, however, the s uttle feeler moves to its full extent, the "usual trans-' ferrer dog (not shown because being wellsee the dog 'm, in Unw t mina@110 Patent No. 718,587, to Stimpson, dated January 13, 1903) -is encountered by, a hunter 29 on the lay and the change of weft is effected.

At 28 in Fig. 3, is shown thepin of the transferrer dog which coacts with an arm 26 on the shuttle feeler G. The shuttle feeler carries a cutting mechanism comprising a movable cutting blade H, for the purpose of cutting the thread extending from the adjacent selvage of the cloth to the nearly exhausted weft-carrier. All of these parts, or their equivalents, are well known in automaticweft-replenishing feeler looms. The center weft-fork is shown at I. It is located at the middle of the lay among the warp threads and it moves down to feel for weft by gravity and is. elevated by a lifting cam L, shownin Fig. 1, with which it is operatively connected by mechanism including a rock shaft J, journaled to and beneath the lay, and a dagger it, connected with the rock shaft and riding on the lifting cam. In case no weft is laid the weft-fork descends its full distance, and as the result the usual shipper handle 0, of the loom is knocked off from its holding notch, thus permitting a propelling spring 66, to act to move appropriate parts to stop the loom, the brake being simulta neously applied. Owing to the-center-f'ork being at the middle of the lay and to the 7 parts controlled 'by it, it detects weft absencesufficiently early to enable the loom to come to a standstill before the lay beats completely forward, thus avoiding beating up the last deficient pick into place in the cloth. The construction and action of the centerforkand the devices intermediate between it and the stopping mechanism are fully set forth in the .Chase application.

' In accordance with the present invention a side weft-fork S, is employed located at the change side of the loom between the weftreplenishing magazine and the adjacent se vage of the cloth and hence between the center-fork and the shuttle-box at the change'end of the lay. This side-fork S, is

of usual construction, being pivoted to a fore and aft moving weft slide F,- and ccijperating with a grid U, carried by the lay. 'In caseof absence of weft between the fork and, its grid, the tail of the fork is caught byan ordinary cam actuated weft-hammer shown at V, in Fig. 3. T his side-fork detects weft absence just before the lay completes its forward movement; it is then caught by the weft-hammer and it with its slide T, is moved forward against the stress of spring I).

The weft slide T, in this forward movement convenientl 4 shaft F, w ich is constructed as a hollow acts upon an'arm- X, extending upwardly from'the stop rod W, its upper end be ng immediately in front of the weft-fork slide,

as indicated in Fig. 5. The stop rod W, extends thr0ugh the starting sleeve for this purpose. ,This stop rod W,

extends to the feeler or setting-on side of the loom and there has fast to it an upwardly extending downwardly hooked arm Y. As shown in Fig. 2, the u per end of this arm Y, hooks over the tail end of a knock-off lever Z, which is pivoted at d, to the breastbeam, and the outer end of which is adacent the shipper handle 0. In case the side-fork S, detects weft absence, the sto rod W, is rocked and the hooked upper en of the arm Y, is moved outwardly, thus swinging the knock-off lever Z, on its pivot and hence un-v coupling the ship er handle 0, from its usual holding notch, wiereu on the spring 66, is free to disconnect the 00m driver from the loom and a brake is applied and the loom stopped. A sprin e, restores the knock-off lever toits norma position; and the spring I), is connected with the arm X, so as to restore the stop rod to its normal position, and thisspring acts through the arm X, to restore the weft-fork slide. T, and side-fork S, to their normal positions. With this sidefork the loom will be stopped should the thread run out after the shuttle has passed the center-fork on its way to the change end of the loom after the feeler D, has detected approaching exhaustion of weft and has initiated the action of the weft-replenishing mechanism.

The loom will not stop until the weft-replenishing has been effected. and until the ay is part or all the way back. The shuttle is hence ready for restarting. The defective pick has, however, been beaten into lace and it is necessary to turn the harnesses ack in order to open the shed and remove the artial pick. The weaver then restarts the 00m, seeing that the-first automatic throw of the shuttle lays the fresh weft in the proper shed. When this side-fork on the change side of the loom is used in combination with a detector which detects approaching exhaustion of weft and with a centerfork, as in the Chase application, the full advantages of automatic weft-replenishment are secured and perfect cloth can be woven with the minimum of attention and care on the part of the weaver.

It is to be'noted from Fig. 1, that the shuttle-eye is approximatel at the point a, and hence that the side-for r is between the center-fork and the shuttle-box occupied by the shuttle when its eye-end is farthest from the selvage. In other words, the side-fork is located between the selvage and the end of the shuttle remote from its eye-end when the shuttle occupies the adjacent box.

While the center-fork specifically selected 'for illustration is moved down by gravity, it

maIy be aided in its descent by a spring.

claim:-

1. A weft-replenishing loom having, in combination, a detector located at the side of the loom opposite to the location of the weftreplenishing mechanism and which detects the approaching exhaustion of weft and sets in -action the weft-replenishing mechanism,

' both when Weft absence occurs on the trave- 'erse of the shuttle toXthe replenishing side of the loom-and when,it occurs on the traverse of the shuttle to the'detector side of the loom,

* and a side fork operatively connected with the stop ing mechanism and located outside of these vageof thecloth at the weft-replen lshing side of the loom, said side fork detecting weft absence and'stopping the 100m when theweft runs out after the shuttle has passed at the replenishing 'sideof the 100m.

2'. weft-re lenishing loom having, in combination, a etector located at the side'of the loom'opposit e to thelocation'of' the weftreplenishing mechanism andwhich detects the approaching exhaustion of weft and-sets in action the weft-replenishing mechanism to su'ppl fresh weft before-the runnin weft is comp etel y' exhausted,"s topping mec anism,. a center fork working among the warp1 v 30 threads and cooperatively connectedwit said stopping mechanism to stop theloom vwhen weft absenceoccurs on the traverse of side of the the shuttle to the'replenishini; d y connecte 1 outside of the se vage' of the cloth at the weft-replenishing side of the loom, said side fork dete'cting,weft absence. and stop ingthe loom when the weft runs out after t e shuttle has passed the center fork on its way to the shuttle box at the replenishing side of the loom. Y e e 3. A weft-replenishing loom having, in combination, a detector which detects the approaching exhaustionof weft and :sets in action the weft-replenishing mechanism to 'suppl fresh weft before the running weft-is comp etely exhausted,- stopping mechanism, a center-fork working among the warp threads and cooperatively connected with when weft absence occurs on either traverse of the shuttle, and a side fork operatively connectedwith the stopping mechanism and located outside of the "seivage of the cloth at the weft-replenishing side of the loom, said side fork detecting weft absence and stop.- ping the loom when the'weft runs out after the shuttle has passed the center fork on its way to thejshuttle box at the replenishing side, of the loom.

' 4. A: weft replenishing loom having, in combination, a detector which detects the approaching, exhaustion of weft and sets in action the weft-replenishing mechanism to supply fresh weft before the runningweft is threads and cooperatively connected wit said stopping mechanism to stop the 100m when weft absence occurs on the traverse of the shuttle to-the replenishing side of the loom, and a side fork-operatively connected with the stopping mechanism and located outside of the selvage of the cloth at the weft replenishing side of the loom, said side fork when the Weft runs out after the shuttle has passed the'center'fork onits way to theshuttie box at the replenishing side of the loom.

5. A-loom having, in combination, stopping mechanism, a center-fork Working among the warp threads and cooperatively connected with said stopping mec anism to stop the loom when weft absence occurs on operatively connected with the stopping mechanism and located outside of the selvage of the cloth, said side fork detecting weft absence and stopping the loom when the Weft runs out after the shuttle has passed the cen- ..ter fork on its Way to the neighboring shuttle box.

' In witness whereof, I have hereunto signed my name in the presence of two subscribing witnesses. v

' ALFRED E. STAFFORD.

Witnessesi CLARE H. DRAPER,

FRANK J. BUTCHER.

either traverse of the shuttle, and aside fork said stopping mechanism 'to stop the loom completely exhausted, stopping mechanism, u a. center-fork working among the war the center fork on its wayto the shuttle box detecting weft absence and stopping the loom 

